For the second time this month our Moon reaches apogee, (greatest distance from Earth), on Wednesday August 30^th. At that time the Moon will more or less be at a distance of 31.69 Earth diameters (404,308 km or 251,225 miles) from the Earth.

   On the day of the apogee the 10-day old waxing gibbous Moon rises during mid-afternoon and is about 7^o from Saturn and around 10^o degrees from the reddish star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion.

   Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as the above graphic shows? From our perspective on the Earth the Moon appears to circle around the Earth. However, in reality, the Moon orbits the Sun together with the Earth^*

^*Click here to read my 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)

Read this very informative article about the Earth-Moon system and their orbital motions, written by Joe Hanson. “Do We Orbit the Moon?”

   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to go to bobs-spaces.